More than 75 percent of all Americans are participating in some form of social media through blogs, forums and sites like Facebook and Twitter. As this chorus of conversations and the proliferation of social technologies that enable participation grow, companies must make sense of the new channel for consumer interaction.
Organizations need to think less about social media as just "consumer chatter" and more about how to understand, digest and invest in the science behind what consumers are saying-and most importantly, participate with where "their" consumers have congregated.
Download this free whitepaper to learn how listening to, learning from, measuring and engaging in the millions of conversations are the keys to success and how grasping the context and mindset of these back-and-forth exchanges, as well as their relevance and sentiment will enable you to gauge consumer passion in a new and multi-dimensional way.
Thanks to the explosion of the social channel, companies now have more insight into consumer perception of their brands than ever before. We know, for example, that social interactions are causing companies to try and navigate this new medium both reactively and proactively; we also know that companies are no longer in control of their brands - consumers are. Lastly, we know technology is simply an enabling tool to better understand the social channel and subsequently, the social revolution.
And what a revolution it is:
. More than 133 million blogs have been indexed since 2002
. Twitter has grown more than 1,300 percent in one year. More than 10 million users create 1,500 new "Tweets" every second
. Facebook user growth for the 35-year-old-plus demographic has grown to 12 million users in the first quarter of 2009.
Why is this such as new era and paradigm for organizations and marketers? Though social media is a collective action, in actuality it's the result of millions of individual monologues and dialogues.
Listening to, learning from, measuring and engaging in the millions of conversations, are the keys to success. If we grasp the context and mindset of these back-and-forth exchanges, as well as their relevance and sentiment, we'll be able to gauge consumer passion in a new and multi-dimensional way.
Hearing the Voice of your Customer
One of the goals for companies should be to make sure they accurately hear what their customers are saying, whether they like or dislike products or services and ultimately whether they are advocates, evangelists or detractors. Business success in the
coming years will require companies to harness the power of social conversations, as the youngest and oldest members of society increasingly embrace platforms like Facebook, Twitter, forums, and blogs to connect and collaborate in real-time communities. And it's
not just the volumes of conversations but the velocity that's changed the equation. Today, these brand conversations can move with astonishing speed, around the world several times before companies are aware of it. In addition, not every Tweet or post is created equal and "hearing" what customers are saying is just the first step;
context, which we'll cover, is just as important, and that precedes engagement. Companies that engage with consumers will find that they have the ability to guide their brand; while those that don't will find their brand disconnected from consumers and imperiled.
